Shenlong's Vacation, Piccolo's Conspiracy Theory
by EC-Chan
Summary: *edited sorta ^^;;;* Spawned from a strange idea I suggested to Majin Pan and then stole back ^^;; mean of me, ne? Pan and Shenlong story...how it would work. Doesn't the theory of how that would work intrigue you in the least?;;; R/R


~  
  
Shenlong's Vacation.;;;  
  
For Majin Pan.who said she wanted to write this, but it was my idea to begin with and I'm stealing it back. though she's welcome to do her own ^^;;;  
  
I know I said that it could work with human-dragon, but.I dun wanna explain that O.,o and I know this isn't exactly what you had in mind, but..oh well? ^^;;; I was thinking about how to write it and this is one of the ways I came up with..though there's a lot others ^^;;;  
  
Anyway, hope you guys like.  
  
Disclaimer: ladedah.isn't it obvious or must I say it yet again?! For the last time, I don't own Dragon Ball Z O.,o.  
  
Note: Dende has created a new dragon (I'm not sure if it should be named Shenlong.but it is anyway) and it has all of the memories of the other two dragons. I could go into my theory that I randomly made up about the dragons here, but I won't cuz I'm too tired.just pretend it works- I promise it does, even though I'm really bad at explaining it.  
  
~  
  
Shenlong slumbered on the Earth's core, destined to only awaken to grant the seeker his or her two wishes and then return to his slumber once again. Sentenced to years upon years of this tiring processes- where he was given no chance to live his own life. Destined to live in a hell filled with the worst imaginable torture possible- boredom.  
  
Yes! Boredom.  
  
By all accounts he should have no control over his mind during the time in which his body slept- no human was conscious during this time, so why should he? It would have been a true blessing if this were true. If his conscious mind slept as his body did, while his subconscious mind was left to it's own devices. But this wasn't true, and so this fact shackled his mind more effectively then any physical chains could do.  
  
Hence the boredom.  
  
There was no one to interact with in his mind- he had considered making up a few characters to amuse himself with, but fantasies had never intrigued him; most likely since he spent his own life trying to appease human's. Therefore he was stuck in this hellish limbo. And there was no way in which he could unfasten himself from his destiny.  
  
At least that was his train of thought a few years ago (though he had given up deciphering the passing of time- minutes had molded themselves into hours for him, hours days, and days years). But today. Yes, today, would be his day to reclaim his destiny for himself. He would finally be at least in somewhat control of it.  
  
This was for the best.  
  
Yes. He believed that it was.  
  
Of course he could never escape the shackles completely. It was an unspoken law that was hidden deep in his core hidden under all of his other inabilities. Simply finding someone to share this cruel destiny with would be enough.  
  
It had to be.  
  
From the recesses of his mind, he drew all of his strength into the core of his very being. He would need all of it if he were to succeed at his task, simply because his creator had taken measures to secure what he was about to do wouldn't happen. Luckily for him, his maker had forgotten a small loophole- he was still mentally in full control over his powers even if he physically was not.  
  
He may not be able to make a wish himself without gathering the seven balls- bound to these rules as all other beings were, but he had the perfect ability to summon the Dragon Balls and thus himself, therefore freeing himself for a few moments in time. If his long scaly face was still reacting to his minds dictation then his smooth lips would curl into a smirk. But he need not despair- it would be soon..at least something like it would.  
  
The balls were easy to call to him, since they were, in fact, a part of him. He was defenseless, as his inventor intended when they were spread apart- anyone could find them and force him to do their bidding. But that was the part of his destiny that he had no control over and so he would not worry about it for now..as long as this plan worked.  
  
As long as the human he was thinking about was willing.  
  
But now there was no time to worry about that- the balls were already in a small semi circle above him on the Earth, and he was able to come forth into the tangible world once again with the ability of all powers granted to him. Now he did smile, smirking down at the glowing orbs, and summoning his first wish he had so carefully prepared to work it's way out of his long disused throat,  
  
"I wish I were a human until the second wish is made with the ability to stay on the Earth's surface."  
  
He knew that it must have been a truly enchanting sight to see- an over- grown dragon that could make any animal on Earth appear as a midget morphing into a petit- at least normal sized- boy of about age sixteen. The now-boy smirked, flexing his newly formed muscular arms and tried out a few martial arts moves for good measure.  
  
He wiggled his toes, enjoying the feel of the strangely shaped shoes- the kind that are wooden platforms with two separate blocks to raise them. Flexing his arms again, he revealed in the feel of cloth against his smooth pink flesh- unable not to show his pleasure in this new experience. He wore samurai clothes- the kind he rarely saw on any wishers anymore, and he wondered silently if he should be thankful if clothes were included in his wish or annoyed that they wouldn't allow him to fit into this new world at all.  
  
No matter. The wish had worked, and that's all he needed right now.  
  
Besides being able to have a reasonable conversation with the girl-human.  
  
But while he was at it he could see what it actually feels like to run on two legs rather then always be floating. Yes, he could have fun yet.  
  
~  
  
It didn't take him long to get to the girl-human's house. He had planned on that with utmost care. The only problem was that he couldn't figure out what a legitimate reason would be to randomly show up at her doorstep, seeking her to come with him.  
  
After all this planning he had missed an extremely important detail, and he didn't want to waste much more time.  
  
Time. Time. Time.  
  
Human's revolved around time.  
  
He normally cared less about time, but this was different- this was something he actually cared about. This was something in which he was waiting breathlessly for the result of. He needed, with all of his being, to know if she would come with him- if he had chosen correctly in picking this girl-human in particular to share his time with.  
  
He needed to know.  
  
"May I help you?" Sometime during his mental breakdown she had walked out onto her front porch, staring quizzically in his direction. She was more beautiful in real life then when he watched her though the Lookout (which is only possible using his maker's mind). "Are you here to challenge Trunks?"  
  
Trunks.the boy who had won the last martial arts contest, gaining the title of strongest man in the world. Did she really think that he would come here simply to fight with some child? But of course she wouldn't know how to judge him since, well, she didn't know him. And this did give him the reason he was looking for.  
  
"Yes," He nodded. "Will he fight?"  
  
"Bura?" A raven haired girl poked her head out the door, curious what was taking her friend so long. She saw Shenlong and stiffened, her face going from openly innocent to angry and ready to fight in a split second. "Who are you and what do you want?"  
  
"To fight..Trunks," He repeated the reason he adopted and she snorted.  
  
"Everyone knows that he doesn't take challenges- go back from where you came," She snarled at him.  
  
He blinked. Did all humans have such a vile temper? And how could this ,Trunks win a worldwide contest if he never took challenges? He had never been particularly interested in the two boy spawns- Goten and Trunks, so he had been surprised to say the least when he saw that Trunks was competing. But then he had just assumed that Trunks had been training, but was he? Could these hybrid offspring be more powerful then normal humans without lifting a single weight to train? It was possible but not probable.  
  
"Then I'll fight you."  
  
"Pan-," the girl-human he had chosen so carefully started to rise to his rescue, but then stopped after his words registered in her mind. "But..how did you know Pan fights?"  
  
"Her.stance."  
  
"I accept," Pan said, bowing formally, before leading Shenlong out into the front.  
  
"Wait- Pan!" Bura ran after them, trying to get her friend's attention. Pan, merely ignored her however- spreading her limber limbs apart into ready position. "Pan..don't be too hard on him!"  
  
Shenlong would have snorted at the girl disdainfully had Pan not charged at him, forcing him to concentrate on the fight at hand. He blocked her first blow, which was merely a test of his strength, with little power of his own. She was good- far better then he would deem any human or hybrid worthy of, though she was nothing compared to him.  
  
How could she be?  
  
He, after all, was the Eternal Dragon.  
  
They broke apart after a moment, the warm-up fulfilled to each of the fighter's satisfaction. She nodded to him, acknowledging his worthiness and stripped off her training weights. He had not known that she was wearing them, of course, and the fact that he found her a worthy opponent with them on intrigued him- this would definitely be a fight to remember.  
  
Thoughts of his original plans flitted from his mind as the two exchanged blows, sweat pouring from their bodies and the sun growing high in the sky before they broke apart, finding that Bura had left them to themselves.  
  
It was probably best this way, anyway. She would no doubt attract more attention if she were watching the two fight (since it was out of character for her), then if they simply fought alone. And it wouldn't do for anyone watching them, since they would be astounded by two things:  
  
1) Pan, Shenlong supposed, was more powerful then any had deemed her able to become.  
  
And 2) He, himself, was a stronger then anyone that this world had to boast- perhaps stronger.  
  
He felt, somehow, that he and Pan had come to an unspoken understanding- neither wanted these secrets revealed. She spoke then interrupting his train of thought, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Why?" Shenlong asked, staring at her blankly as he stripped off his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his body as best as possible- who knew that humans had so many sweat glands! She was staring at him oddly- her approval of his looks glazed across her face. He paused, taking her in anew.  
  
She was a dark beauty- perhaps not as worthy in this regard as Bura, but she had her own right to this title. Her body was well toned, years of training evident in every pore. And she also had the intelligence of not only fighting strategies but normal genius as well, which seeped through her eyes. She was everything he had ever dreamed of in a companion and much, much more.  
  
He wondered why he had not seen this to begin with.  
  
Why had he ever though Bura was the better choice of the two?  
  
"I thought that you would be as weak as most humans are," She said, though she seemed to be more mesmerized by Shenlong readjusting his shirt onto his body then in telling him what she was sorry for. Her eyes hardened then, and she grew serious, "Who are you and what do you want?"  
  
He smiled. A one-tracked mind. "I'm Shen." It would do him no good if he said the 'long'- it would only aid her in figuring out who he was sooner. He had a lot of work to do before his secret could and would be revealed. Especially if he was switching girl-humans- no Pan was no human. She was Saiyan..or at least not of this world.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"Do you really want to know?" He stepped towards her, staring down into her bottomless black eyes, loosing himself in them. Odd..he had only just met her and she was making him feel..so different. As if he had already found what he was at this very moment searching for. She made him feel like he wasn't alone anymore.  
  
"Yes," She breathed, trying to sound firm, but her resolve breaking under such close contact. Her hand timidly reached out to touch his face- to assure herself that he was real no-doubt. "Who are you?"  
  
"I came..to get you," Shenlong said, caught up in this moment, and newfound feelings as well. He didn't want to lie to her- but what could he do? If he told her the truth then he would lose her. He was certain of it. Damn human relationships- hadn't he just concluded that they both weren't human? Hadn't he decided that they weren't restricted to realities as much.? Damn the whole thing to hell. "Come with me. I want you to be with me forever. I need you!"  
  
She paused, searching his eyes, and then she bent, her lips brushing over his own. And then as she was stepping back he caught her and kissed her more fully. When they finally broke apart, they were as hot and sweaty as when they concluded their spar, and it was Shenlong's turn to search the girl's eyes. She smiled timidly at him, a faint blush shading her cheeks, and he smiled back. Such innocence. Such purity.  
  
And then there was him.  
  
The manipulative fool of the world- the creature that held within him the power to do great or evil things but was unable to decide his own fate..until now. How could he face her with this awful, hideous secret? How could he continue to stare at her with such passion when he knew that this could never be? That it was unfair and uncalled for to even hope.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
She smirked. "About what?"  
  
"I didn't deserve that."  
  
"Most think that," She said, wrinkling her nose playfully at him. "And most are wrong."  
  
"I haven't told you everything..anything."  
  
"Neither have I."  
  
"But I know everything about you..I've been watching you," He admitted heavily. She would hate him for the truth..he knew that. But something wouldn't stop him from speaking. "I'm..not human."  
  
"Neither am I."  
  
"This isn't my true form," He amended and she stopped in her tracks- reality rushing home. She had heard enough stories from her father and friends to know that what he was saying was possibly quite true. "I don't deserve you..I came here searching for someone to share my burden with, but that's not for me to ask and it never was."  
  
She was silent, confused.  
  
"I'm sorry," He said, staring into her eyes, which although a few seconds ago were filled with warmth and life, were now filled with..nothing. Either she had made her decision already and had decided that a mere moment in time that would be forgotten in a few days hence wasn't worth all this trouble or she didn't know what to do..how to respond. Either weren't a good sign, and it was time for him to return from this dream to his reality- no matter how bleak it seemed. "I've had my fun..I'll leave now."  
  
It was a pathetic last line to say before blasting off into the now late afternoon, but there was nothing left to say. His plan had failed before it had even been initiated- he wouldn't inflict his life on her and he doubted now if he could on anybody. It was too bleak.,too depressing,.too.  
  
For once he failed to summon the words to describe his private torments. There was really no point.  
  
~  
  
Son Pan stared at the retreating form in confusion. What was that all about? Here she had thought that she had finally found a guy that she had a chance of having and he turned out to be mentally deranged. She made a face at his back before turning to head back into Capsule Corps.  
  
At least she had gotten a good spar out of the deal. It was so boring nowadays with no one to fight and only Bura to really hang around unless she wanted to be with someone from school. Or worse- Marron. She made a face at the thought- though she wasn't quite sure why she hated Goten's girlfriend so much.  
  
Anyway, she'd just have to go see what Bura was up to at the moment- had she left Capsule Corps completely? Pan paused to search for the familiar ki, and smiled when she felt not the one she was searching for but Piccolo's. What was he doing heading this way? Nowadays he seemed to be spending most of his time on Kami's Lookout.  
  
She met him back in the front of the house, smiling at her father's old mentor. Although he had refused to train her countless times, he never failed to give her advice on how to train by herself and she eternally in his debt. And once in a while, if she begged and pleaded enough to get on his nerves, he would teach her a technique he had perfected during his long years as a martial artist so she got the equivalent to a teacher even though it wasn't official. It was good enough, since no one else would even give her anywhere near that amount.  
  
He frowned at her, "Have you seen..anything or one unusual around here today?"  
  
She blinked. Was he talking about Shen? The boy..the very hot boy..no there was no words to describe-.  
  
"Pan!"  
  
"Yeah, actually I did," She frowned, wondering what she should tell him. With a mental shrug she began to explain, "A boy. He came looking for a spar and he had a very high power level- higher then mine at least. And then he told me he wasn't in his real form before running away..are you searching for him?"  
  
"What was his name?"  
  
"Shen."  
  
"If he comes back inform me telepathically- this is extremely important Pan- do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, Piccolo-Sempai," She nodded. He never allowed her to call him sensei, so she settled for the next best thing. He nodded back before blasting off again. When he was out of sight, she closed her eyes and concentrated, searching for the boy's ki. She found him a little ways away- motionless- so..he hadn't been some crackpot then, but for real?  
  
He uncertainty about the situation grew as she reviewed what they had done with each other. He seemed..perfect for her. That's one of the reasons why she had so readily believed that he was crazy. His story wasn't unbelievable..she just didn't want to believe that someone so perfect for her..wasn't within her grasp. Though he had said he was.  
  
Then..she could allow herself to try to do as he wanted at least for the moment. As long as it wasn't permanent. She licked her lips, trying to forget about the warmth of his own when they were over hers. What had possessed her? Maybe he wasn't so odd after all.  
  
Coming to a quick resolve, she too blasted off into the air and in the direction of the boy she loved. Yes loved. It seemed so completely inanely randomly pathetic- after all she had known this boy for how long? Not even a day! She had spared and then they kissed. He had said so bizarre things that barely made sense, and now she was putting words in his mouth..but it was still there- the promise of a life better then this one..even if he had spoke of it as a burden. He was strange, but then she was probably stranger. And besides she could at least try to get some answer or something..  
  
~  
  
The Dragon Balls were still glowing brightly when Shenlong returned to them. He floated over them, simply waiting, though he didn't know what for. Was he waiting for her? For Pan? That was insane and his rational mind screamed that there was no point, but deep within his heart the hope was there throbbing painfully in his chest.  
  
Just a moment longer.  
  
Before that moment could turn into an hour he arrived. Not the girl he had been waiting for, but his maker's accomplice- the one who had ruled over Earth before him..Dende. Of course it would be Piccolo and not his maker who would come to yell at him.  
  
He should have guessed.  
  
Dende may be techniquelly the god of Earth at the moment, but Piccolo, fused with the old god, was the one who had the most power. The most influence. Shenlong had often felt an almost bond with his creator for this fact. But this really didn't matter to him at the moment. What mattered was that now he would be forced to go back. Now his hell would return.  
  
"Okay, you had your fun-."  
  
"I know Piccolo," Shenlong smirked. "As the Eternal Dragon I will go back to my duties- it is my destiny. But..I doubt you would allow me to stay a bit longer? I'm waiting for someone."  
  
"I know," Piccolo said, frowning. "And she won't come. You should have talked to Dende or me if you wanted a companion."  
  
"Why?" Shenlong blinked. "It's not like you've ever been kind to me before."  
  
"You've never complained before," Piccolo commented. Stalemate. And both knew it. "This was quite a drastic way to accomplish your goal..did you find it rewarding?"  
  
"It's nice to get out once in a while," Shenlong said dryly.  
  
"And always a pain to return to reality," Piccolo answered in like.  
  
Shenlong smiled. He really did have many qualities of his creators..at least Piccolo..sort of.. He frowned. Then again perhaps not.  
  
"Are you ready?" Piccolo asked after a few more minutes had passed.  
  
Shenlong took one more critical glance into the sky around him and then nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be. You will be changing the Dragon Balls so this won't happen again?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Don't," a new voice contributed to the conversation. Both males turned to stare in shock at the raven haired teenager behind them. She was staring unabashed at Shenlong, questioning him with her eyes. "Does your offer still stand, Shenlong?"  
  
"..Yes," He said, trying to think of why she had said offer instead of plea.  
  
"Then I want to be with you."  
  
"Pan-!" Piccolo started, but she cut him off.  
  
"You can wish me back in a year if it doesn't work out," She told him calmly. "But as for now have Dende change the rules- Shenlong and I will be confined to the core, but we have mobility."  
  
"How do you-," Shenlong started to ask, but Pan waved his question away.  
  
"Lessons from Dende and Piccolo," She said. "They plan to make me the goddess when Dende dies."  
  
"Pan- this isn't a good idea," Piccolo said, pleading though only someone who knew him extremely well would be able to tell as much. "Gohan-."  
  
"My father would have to give me up anyways if I am to be goddess," She said, standing firm in her decision. "He agreed to that, and so he'll have to agree to this. I wish, Shenlong, that I have the power to change forms from human to dragon."  
  
Shenlong blinked, his body de-transforming in the blink of the eye and he found himself facing her in a position in which he hadn't wanted her to see. Ever. The words came unbidden to his lips, "Your wish has been granted."  
  
"Tell Dende to change it," Pan glared and Piccolo.  
  
With a sigh, the tired Namekian nodded. Did the headache never stop? First Goten and Trunks..then her insistence on training.and now this?! For a moment he had the sneaking suspicion that Dende had placed him into these positions simply to laugh over this non-existent gray hairs he was creating and then shrugged his conspiracy-theory off. Dende wouldn't do that.  
  
But Gohan definitely wasn't going to be happy about this. And the sad part was that Piccolo would be the one paying for the consequences of these two's actions- not Pan nor Shenlong. He rubbed his head tiredly, wondering absentmindedly whether or not if he really had hair then it would be by now gray or not.and interesting question.  
  
~  
  
Lol.. I attempted to edit this.. The end is simply bizarre and the rest is really weird- I was so tired some of it came out wrong -.-;;; whoopsies;; But I have no clue how to end it... Well I could fix it up a bit, but I'm too lazy;;; oh wells.. Wow.. I can't believe I wrote this- tis so completely random;;;  
  
~ 


End file.
